Fabric-cutting machine.



Patented Mar. 18, I902.

No. s95,553. J. A. HEANY. FABRIC CUTTING MACHINE.

(Ap'plicatiomflled June 24, mm.) I (No Model.) 4 $heets-Sheet I.

WWO z m: NORRIS Fifinaca, PHOTOvLITNQ, WASHINOTDN, D c,

No. 695,553. v Pa't'hted'mar. l8, I902. .1. A. HEANY.

FABRIC CUTTING MACHINE.

(Applicafiion med June 24, 1901.)

4 Sheets- Sheef 2.

(Na Model.)

ma Iowans versus w. Ffim'amun, msumsmu. u, c.

No. 695,553.- Paien ted Mar. 18, I902.

. I A. HEANY.

FABRIC CUTTING MACHINE.

(Application fl1ed June 24, 1901. (No Model.) 4 Shaqts-Shpt 3.

No. 595,553. Patented Mar. l8, I902. J. A. HEANY,

FABRIC CUTTING MACHINE.

(Application med June 24, 1901.)

4 Shqts-Sheet 4.

(No Model.)

THE NORRvS mus a. Prwfouma, wAsul'fm'on. g. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC JOHN A. HEANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA,ASSIGNOR TO ADAMS TOP CUTTING MACHINE COMPANY, OF EAST ORANGE, NEWJERSEY, A

CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

FABRIC-CUTTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters latent No. 695,553, dated March18, 1902. Application filed June 24, 1901. Serial No. 65,749. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN ALLEN HEANY, a citizen of the United States,residing vat the city of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia andState of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Fabric-Cutting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has relation to a mechanism for cutting a continuous stripof tubular knit or woven hose or similar fabric into required lengths,said mechanism being automatically controlled by the movement of thehose or fabric toward the cutting tool or knife; and

in such connection it relates to the construction and arrangement ofsuch a mechanism.

Heretofore in the manufacture of stockings, for instance, it has beencustomary to'knit a continuous length of tubular fabric spaced :0 offinto points atwhich it was to be cut by welts. In some instances thepoints of severance were indicated by two parallel welts. After thecontinuous length had'been knit the operator stretched the hose over atable and with a pair of shears or other sharp instrument severed thehose on a line with the single welt or where two welts were formedbetween said welts.

The principal object of my present inven- 0 tion is to provide a machinewherein the con tinuous hose may be accurately and automatically severedinto the required lengths.

The nature and scope of my invention will be more fully understood fromthe following 3 5 description, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, forming parthereof, in which Figure 1 is a longitudinalsectional view of a hose-cutting machine embodying main fea- 0 tures ofmy invention. Fig. 2 is a top or plan view of the machine. Fig. 3 is anenlarged detail view illustrating in rear elevation the circuit makingand breaking device for controlling the knife-operating mechanism. Fig.4 is an enlarged detail view illustrating in top or plan View the sectorand controlling mechanism therefor for operating the knife. Fig. 5 is anenlarged front elevational view of the knife and auxiliaries, and Fig. 6is a side elevational view enlarged of one set of rollers for feedingthe hose toward the knife.

- Referring to the drawings, a represents the bed or table of themachine, suitably supported upon the frame or standards a. Along thetable a isformed a trough or guideway a in which the hose A is guided.This hose A passes over an end roller a and under a tension-finger a,designed to spread or flatten out the hose before it enters the trough aAt suitable intervals the floor of the trough a is cut away, as at a ato permit the periphery of the lower feed-rollers a a to enter thetrough a and to rest under'the hose A. In the. preferred form of themachine there are two sets of feed-rollers, in the rear) set of whichonly one roller, preferably the upper roller a is positivelydriven,whereas in the forward set both rollers a and a are positivelydriven. A preferred means of driving the positively-driven feed-rollersis as follows: The lower roller a of the forward set of feed-rollers iskeyedor otherwise'secured directly to the main or power shaft 6, onwhich the fast pulley b andloose pulley b are arranged. A belt bcommunicates power from any suitable source to the fast pulley b whenthe machine is in operation, and this belt 6 may be shiftedin anywell-known manner to the loose pulley b? when the machine is thrown outof operation. Upon the powershaft Z) is also secured a gear-wheel 19meshing with a gear-wheel 5 secured to a shaft 6 upon whichthe upperroller a of the forv wardset of rollers is secured. This shaft b, bypreference, is mounted in sliding bearingblocks I)", held down undertension of the spring b as clearly shown in Fig. 6, sincev thisconstruction permits the roller a and its shaft b to slightly rise if anobstruction, such as a welt A in the hose A, passes under the roller aand yet permit the rollera to rest with required tension upon the hose.If desired, theshaft carrying the upper roller a of the rear set offeed-rollers'may be similarly arranged. On one end of the shaft b of theroller a is secured a miter gear b meshing with a similar gear 1)arranged on a shaft b, extending at right angles to the shaft 1). Therear end of the shaft Z1 is provided with a friction-wheel Z1 pressingagainst a friction-disk Z9 carried by the shaft b upon which the upperfeed-roller a of the rear set is secured. The shaft b is ad justable bymeans of a sleeve 19, so that the wheel 12 may be moved toward or awayfrom the center of the disk 6 and thereby cause the disk I) and theshaft b fland consequently the feed-roller a to rotate at varyingspeeds. The speed of this roller a should be less than the speed atwhich the positively-driven rollers a and a rotate, so as to maintainthe fabric under tension before it is presented to the knife. The hose Aafter it enters the trough (L is fed forward by the feed-rollers untilit reaches the far end of the machine, at which it is presented to thecutting mechanism. This cutting mechanism comprises, essentially, aknife (I, having its shank bolted or otherwise secured to a cross heador frame d. The cross-head d at its ends is bolted or otherwise securedto two vertical shafts or rods d having a range of movement in astationary framework (1 wherein the knife dis adapted to slide in avertical plane. The lower ends of the rods or shafts d are secured to asubstantially triangular bracket d, and on one side of this bracket isformed a rack d Springs cl", interposed between the cross-head d and theframework (2 and coiled around the rods or shafts d serve under tensionto hold the cross-head d and knife cl and also the rods (1 and bracket61 in an elevated position. In the teeth of the rack d meshes a sector6, carried by the bracket-arms e,extending from a sleeve e looselymounted upon the power-shaft I). These bracket-arms e and sector e arecounterbalanced on the shaft 19 by a weight e One face of the sleeve eis notched or toothed, as at e, and adjacent to this face upon theshaft 1) is splined a grooved collar f, having its face adjacent to thenotches e of the sleeve 6 also notched, as at f. A clutch or forked armf serves to shift the sleeve f toward or away from the sleeve (2 tothereby lock the sleeve 8 to the shaft Z) or to disengage said sleeve 9from said shaft 6. The forked arm or clutch f is normally held undertension of a spring f which serves to retract the sleeve f and tothereby uncouplc the sleeves e and f. \Vhen the sleeve 6 of the sector ais momentarily coupled to the shaft Z), the sector 6 is moved through anarc of a circle and in moving engages the raek d to depress the rods (1crosshead (1, and knife (Z. The table ct below the knife-edge isrecessed or cutaway, and below and in cutting position with respect tothe movable knife dis arranged astationary knife g. W'hen the fabric Aenters between the knives d and g and the knife 61 is depressed, thefabric will be cut or shorn 0d. To firmly bind the fabric A in thetrougha while the knives are cutting through said fabric, a resser-bar h isarranged to the rear of the knife (I and travels therewith. This bar his provided with a rod it, around which a spring 71 is coiled, thespring being arranged between the bar h and an eye 7L3, in which the rodh is adapted to slide. This eye 7L3 projects from the back of the knifecl and rests under a nut h, secured to the upper end of the rod h. Asthe knife 01 descends, the eye If compresses the spring 72?, and this inturn first forces the presser-bar it down upon the fabric and then holdsit down under the increased tension of the spring. when the knife movesupward, the eye 71, carries the rod h and the presser-bar a with it byengaging the nut 7r.

To control the movement of the sector 6, and consequently the movementof the cutting mechanism automatically by the feeding of the hose A, isone of the main features of my present invention. As has beenhereinbefore described, the fabric A has cross welts or ribs A, andthese ridges or ribs A are utilized to throw the sector 6 into and outof operation by means of the following preferred mechanism: To the rearof the farset of feedrollers 01, and a upon the table a is secured ayoke-shaped frame m, of metal. In this frame on is secured a cross-rodm, to which is slottedly connected a rocking carriage m having on itsbase the wheels or rolls m The upper end of this carriage m is providedwith a contact spring or arm m adapted when the carriage is tilted inone direction to contact with a fixed spring m suspended from the frameon. A battery or other source of electricity m is located upon a shelf marranged below the table. One pole of this battery m is connecteddirectly by wire 1 with the bed-plate or table a and consequentlythrough the frame m with the fixed contactspring at. The other pole ofthe battery on is connected by wire 2 with an electromagnet 3, the wire2 passing from said magnet to the carriage m and to the contact-arm m onsaid carriage. It follows that when the carriage m is tilted in onedirection to bring the arm at into contact with the fixed contact m acircuit is completed and the current passes through the magnet 3. Thearmature 4. for this magnet 3 is secured to the free end of the clutchor forked arm f which,

as hereinabove described, controls the sector 6. It follows that whenthe magnet 3 is energized by the passage of current therethrough thearmature 4 will be attracted and the clutch f operated to throw thesector e into operation, and to thus actuate the knife (I. When,however, the carriage "m tilts in an opposite direction, the circuit isbroken and the magnet 3 is demagnetized. In this instance the armature4c is released, and the forked arm or clutch f to the tension of itsspring f and the sector 6 is thrown out of operation. Now in the feedingof the fabric or hose A the welts A will tilt the carriage m to completethe circuit each time the welts A pass under the forward wheels on" ofthe carriagem as illustrated in Fig. 1, whereas at all other times thecarriage m fails to make the circuit.

Having thus described the nature and oh- 5 ject of my invention, what Iclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a machine for cutting hose or similar fabrics, a knife and itsoperating mechanism, combined with means for feeding the hose to theknife, and means controlled by the feeding of the hose and adapted tothrow the operating mechanism for the knife into and out of action.

2. In a machine for cutting hose or similar I 5 fabrics, a knife andmechanism for reciprocating said knife during the cutting of the hose,combined with means for feeding the hose to the knife, and electricalmeans controlled by the feeding of the hose and adapted to throw thereciprocating mechanism of the knife into'and out of action.

3. In a machine of the character described, a knife, mechanism forreciprocating said knife, mechanical means for feeding the hose, 2 5 andelectrical means controlling the reciprocating mechanism for the knife,said electrical means being automatically and periodically set inoperation during the feeding of the hose.

4. In a machine of the character described, a knife,mechanism forreciprocating the knife and a table upon which the fabric is fed towardthe knife, electrical means for periodic- 1 ally actuating thereciprocating mechanism 3 5 for the knife, means for positively feedingthe fabric toward the knife,and a circuit making and breaking devicecontrolling the electrical means and adapted to be operated by thetravel of the fabric.

a main or power shaft, a sector adapted to be coupled to or uncoupledfrom said shaft, a frame, a knife carried by said frame, a rack securedto said frame and in mesh with said 5. In a machine of the characterdescribed,

sector and electric means controlled by the travel 'of the fabric to theknife and adapted to couple or uncouple the sector and shaft.

6. In a machine of the character described, a cutting mechanism,comprising a knife, a cross-head to which the knife is secured, twovertical rods secured to theends of said crosshead, a stationaryframework in which the rods have a range of reciprocatory movement, saidframework adapted to be traversed by the knife, a bracket to whichthelower ends of said rods are secured, a rack formed on one side of saidbracket, a sector engaging said rack, and means controlled by the travelof the fabric for periodically oscillating said sector and therebyoperate said knife.

7. In a machine of the character described, two setsof feed-rollers,between opposite rollers of each of said sets the'fabric is adapted tobe advanced, means for positively driving both feed-rollers of that setadjacent to the cuttingmechanism, and means for-driving either of thefeed-rollers of the other set at a speed less than the speed of the'first feedrollers. 1

8. In a machine of the character described, a bed,'a guideway formedtherein for the reception of the fabric, a reciprocatory knife locatedat the discharge end of the guideway, a

tension-finger located at the entrance end of Witnesses:

J. WALTER DOUGLASS, THOMAS M. SMITH.

